Printing system for photocomposing machines or the like



W. E. PEERY Sept 29, 1953 PRINTING SYSTEM FOR PHOTOCOMPOSING MACHINES OR THE LIKE Filed Aug. 15, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mmmmmmm HIS A TTORNEYS.

' W. E. PEERY PRINTING SYSTEM FORPHOTOCOMPOSING MACHINES OR THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 29, 1953 Filed Aug. 15*, I948" INVENTOR. WALTER E. PEERY H/S ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 29, 1953 UNEIT ED STATES E;

PRINTING SYSTEM? FOR PHOT'OCOMPOSING MACHINES OR THE EIKE Walter E..Peery, MorristowmN. I;

Application AugpstlB, 1948, SerialNO: 44591? EHGIaims. l

The: present invention relates to pht0compos ingJmachines. and more particularly to=new and improved photo-composing apparatus for con trolllng thepositioning of the successive characterstoibeprintedi so asto-form a line or lines of composed matter;

In my copending application Serial No. 411318., filed July 29,1948, for Electronic Photo-Typecomposin'g System; is disclosed a photocomposing'systeminiwhich a. photosensitive record strip is exposed. selectively to characters carried by a rotatingv member.. Positioning of'the successive characters is accomplished bya rotatable reflector'whiclr is suitably'disposed to receive from the rotatingmemberimages'of characters to be exposed;.and to" direct. them. to successive positions ina line. or'lineson the: photosensitive strip. With this construction, it. is'necessary for the photosensitive strip to be curved: transversely about the axis of rotation of the reflector, inorder to maintain: the image of a; character in. focus at any point in the line.

An' object ofithepresenttinvention.is to provide new and improved" photocomp'osing apparatus in which the images of characters may be maintainedin focuswithout' curving: the photosensitive strip;

Another object of. the invention is. to provide newand improved photocomposingr apparatus of the above character whichenabl'es the positioning of characters in a line to be effected by relatively small displacements" of anoptical: system of: relatively small/mass, whereby rapidity of operation can; be achieved;

The objects ofthe inventionmay be attained by providing a flat photosensitive strip and interposing: a movable lens between thev strip and a plane containing an. image of a character to be exposed. The movable lens is adapted to be displaced linearly as a function. of character spaces and word spaces in a plane parallelto both the strip. and the-plane. containing the character image. By virtue: of: this construction, images of successive characters can be: maintained in focus at any point inthe? line without curving the photosensitive strip.

Inone embodiment, a suitable concave lens is interposed between them'ovab'le lens and the image containing plane in such fashion that a given transverse displacement of the image on the photosensitive strip can be effected by displacing a movable lens of minimum mass a minimum distancev Additional objects and advantages of the invention Will become apparent from the following detailed: description. of: several; typical: forms: of the invention: taken. in: conjunction; with the: accompanying: drawings which:

Eigr. Lisa. schematic diagram illustrating; the optical principles upon which the invention; is based;

lTig; 2cillustratesischematically the .optica-liprinciples. involvediizr aemodifiedi form; of the invention"; and

Figs. 3 illustratese schematically: a: typical. photocomposing system constructed: according: to the invention:

In. Fig. a1 photosensitive record, strip ID, is disposed; in; a, plane and'is adapted. to: be. exposed to; characters; projected: thereon by. any: suitable projection apparatus H whiclrmay be: ofthetype disclosed: in my: above-mentioned copending applicati'on.v SuQmap aratusmay: comprise for example, a disc I2; adaptedtobe continuously rotated at; relatively highspeed about a shaft [*3 and having thereon a plurality ofconcentricrows of characters [4; t5,- and: IE4, The-characters i4, l5; and; Hi: areadapted. to: be illuminated by suitable-- light sourcesk1,, l8- and: i9; respectively, through suitable; optical; systems 21L 21.- and 22, respectively which arepreferablydisposed at an exposureposition.along aeradius'of the; disc I12, as shown.

When any of: the characters I54, li a-rid I26 are illuminated; a reaL image: thereof. is. formed; at a, position 23: by means of the lens 24, 25 or 2.6, respectively. Interposed. between the image 23 and. thephotosensitivestrip Hieis-a-lens 24w which focuses the image 23 on the photosensitivestrip -01 at the position. 25.a, for. example.

In. order. for the, characters. to be. printed on the photosensitivefstrip Hi; in a line, it is-necessary; for theprojectiom 25a of the; image: 2 to moved aften each exposure in the plane of the paper. This is. accomplished, according to the inventiombydisplacing; the lens- Z tav along a normal= to.- its optical axis while maintaining the optical-axis perpendicular botht tethe plane-containing; theimage- 231 and the: plane oi? the photesensitiverstrip H1. Thus, by; moving the lens; 24a to the position. 24a", shown in dotted; lines; the projection: 25a: of: the image 30 moves to a new position: 25a onthe; photosensitive strip It will be, observed that. this: is accomplished: without any deterioration in iocussince. the-object and image planes have not. changed.

It. will be apparentthat for maximum. speeds at operation the massof thalens-Zfila and they displacement thereof should be kept, as small as possible. Both the mass of the lens and the displacement required for translation of successive characters on the photosensitive strip can be kept to a minimum by interposing a double concave lens 26a. between the position of the real image 23 and the lens 24, as shown in Fig. 2. The double concave lens 26 produces a reduced virtual image 21 of the real image 23, which reduced image becomes the object for the lens 24a. Since the virtual image 271' is smaller than the real image 23,the lens 2541 should preferably be located nearer to the position of the image 23 than the projection 25a of that image on the photosensitive strip [8. With the lens 2 5a so located, it will be apparent that a smaller displace-- Also, since the displacement is less, the physical dimensions of the lens 25a can be reduced. By virtue of the lower mass of the lens Zia and the lesser displacement in operation, the translation of the successive characters across the photosensitive strip is can be accomplished more rapidly than with the form of the invention shown in Fig. l.

The details of suitable mechanism for displacing the lens 2 5a are shown in greater detail in Fig. 3. In Fig. 3, the lens 24a is normally maintained in an initial position by means of a compression spring 28, for example, and it is adapted to be moved from that initial position by means of an arm 29 having a rack ti) on the upper end thereof adapted to engage a pinion ti on a Wheel 32, The wheel 32 is provided with a rack 33 at the periphery thereof which is adapted to be advanced by a pawl 3 actuated by means of a solenoid 35. The solenoid 35 may receive character space and word space signals from suitable control equipment 36, which may be of the type disclosed in the above-mentioned copending application, for example. Reverse rotation of the wheel 32 is prevented by a pawl 37.

In operation, successive characters on the disc E2 of the projection apparatus H are illuminated and after the photosensitive strip it has been exposed to a character, the lens 25a is moved to a different position along a line 38, 39 extending transversely of the photosensitive strip it until the last character in the line has been printed. When that occurs, the control system 36 supplies a line signal to a solenoid it Which releases the pawl 31, permitting the lens 2% to be returned to the initial position under the influence of the spring 23.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the invention provides a novel photocomposing system in which a fiat photosensitive record strip can be used, on which all of the characters appearing in a single line are accurately in focus. Further, by employing a double concave lens between the real image of the character and the oblect lens, both the mass and displacement of the latter can be kept to a minimum, thus insuring a relatively high degree of speed in operation.

It will be understood that the several embodiments described by way of illustration can be modified within the spirit of the invention. For example, other projection systems and control systems than those described herein can be employed. Other changes that might be made will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The embodiments described, therefore, are not to be regarded s miting in any way the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In photocomposing apparatus, the combination of a fiat photosensitive record strip, means for projecting a succession of real images of characters at a fixed location between said record strip and said projecting means, object lens means interposed'between said image location and said record strip, auxiliary lens means interposed between said image location and said object lens means for producing reduced virtual images of said real images, said object lens being disposed nearer said real image location than said record strip so as to project enlarged images of said virtual images upon said record strip, and means for displacing said object lens means relatively to said fixed location where the real images are formed along a normal to the optical axis thereof with said optical axis disposed substantially perpendicular to both the record strip and the plane of said real images.

2. In photocomposing apparatus, the combination or" a flat photosensitive record strip, means for successively projecting real images of characters at a fixed location in a plane parallel to said record strip, object lens means interposed between said record strip and said real image plane, means for displacing said object lens means relatively to said character images and transversely of the record strip along a normal to the optical axis of said object lens with said optical axis disposed substantially perpendicular to both said record strip and said real image plane, double concave lens means interposed between said object lens means and said real image plane for forming a reduced virtual image of character images in said real image plane, said object lens being so disposed as to projecu an enlarged image of said virtual image on the record strip, and means for actuating said object lens displacing means in accordance with character and word spaces, whereby a line of characters will be printed on said record strip.

3. In a photocornposing machine of the type which produces character images individually in succession upon a laterally fixed photosensitive record strip to form a line of recorded images, and in which said record strip is moved longitudinally after each line is recorded to record a subsequent line, the combination of means for supporting a fiat photosensitive record strip in a fixed lateral position, means for producing a succession of character images at a fixed location with respect to a record strip positioned by said supporting means, an objective lens interposed between said fixed location and said record strip, and means for displacing said objective lens in a lateral direction only with reference to said record strip by successive amounts related to the widths of the characters being recorded, whereby to control the spacing of characters recorded on each line of said record strip.

4. A photocompcsing machine in accordance with claim 3, in which said objective lens is disposed with its optical axis perpendicular to the plane of a record strip positioned by said supporting means.

5. A photocomposing machine in accordance with claim 3, in which said means for producing a succession of character images comprises a character-bearing plate and a lens for producing real images said characters at said fixed location.

WALTER E. PEERY.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Huebner Nov. 21, 1939 Number Number Name Date Turner Feb. 18, 1941 Genies Oct. 7, 1941 Rosenhaft Oct. 14, 1941 Smith June 3, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Jan. 3, 1918 France Aug. 1, 1934 

